Silk Road Map
A free printable map of the Silk Road drawn on real terrain, showing the main overland routes from China to the Mediterranean and the cities along them. It comes labeled and blank.
Choose your version
Labeled or blank.
Both are free PDFs sized for US Letter paper.
Labeled
Cities, regions, rivers and seas named.
downloadLabeled PDF
Blank
The same terrain and markers with no names, for labeling practice.
downloadBlank PDFThe geography of the Silk Road
The Silk Road was not one road but a network of trade routes that linked China with the Mediterranean for about 1,500 years. Caravans carried silk, spices, paper and many other goods, and ideas and religions traveled with them. From Chang’an, the Chinese capital, the route ran west to Dunhuang, where it split to pass north or south of the Taklamakan Desert. The branches met again at Kashgar, crossed the high passes of the Pamirs, and continued through Samarkand, Bukhara and Merv to Persia, Baghdad and the ports of the Mediterranean. Few traders went the whole way. Goods were passed from one merchant to the next.
On the map
- Chang’an: the eastern end, now Xi’an
- Dunhuang: where the route split around the desert
- Kashgar: where the branches met again
- Samarkand and Bukhara: trading cities of Central Asia
- Baghdad: a center of trade and learning
- Antioch and Tyre: Mediterranean ports
- Constantinople: gateway to Europe
Find it on the map
- The Taklamakan Desert, with a route on each side
- The Tibetan Plateau, which the routes went around
- The mountains the routes crossed west of Kashgar
Coastlines and rivers are shown as they are today. Routes are approximate and changed over the centuries.